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Eric Harris
Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 - April 20, 1999) was an American high school senior who committed the Columbine High School massacre along with friend and accomplice Dylan Klebold. The pair killed 13 people and injured 24 others before turning the guns on themselves only feet away from ten of their victims. Background Eric was born in Wichita, Kansas to Wayne Nelson and Katherine "Kathy" Harris (née Poole). He was born with Pectus Excavatum, but later had surgery at ages 12 and 13 to treat this. Eric's parents were originally from Colorado, and both were born there, however Wayne Harris was a transport pilot in the Air Force and he held eleven different positions at six different bases from Ohio, Michigan, and New York. This caused the Harris family to move quite frequently, something that would have a traumatic affect on Eric's ability to settle down and make friends at school. Plattsburgh, New York was the last location the family moved to before Wayne forced retirement from the military in 1993 due to cutbacks. Finally in July of 1993, the family relocated one last time to Littleton, Colorado, at which point Wayne took up working at Flight Safety Services Corporation in Englewood and Kathy got a job as a caterer. Eric went to Ken Caryl Middle School, and met Dylan Klebold. The pair became close friends and spent a lot of time together. Eric started attending Columbine in 1995. In 1996 the Harrises bought a home just south of the high school on Pierce Street. Eric met Brooks Brown while riding the bus, their houses not being far apart. Dylan had been friends with Brooks since the first grade, although this friendship would eventually fall out of touch when the boys started attending different schools. Eric soon befriended Nate Dykeman in Spanish class, who he then introduced to Dylan. They all became close friends. During his freshman year, Eric met Columbine pupil and love interest Tiffany Typher in German class and took her to the homecoming. This would be their only date; and afterwards she allegedly refused to go out with him again. In order to try and scare her and in a rather dark way try and win her back, he staged a fake suicide, with himself sprawled on the ground with fake blood covering his body. He later wrote in her yearbook (as well as Nate Dykeman's) the words "Ich bin Gott", German for "I am God". In January 1998, both Eric and Dylan, now Juniors at Columbine, were arrested for breaking into a van but both were released early for good behavior while participating in a juvenile diversion program. Planning for Columbine Acquiring the Weapons The same year they were arrested, both Eric and Dylan began working at Blackjack Pizza, where they met Phillip Duran, who was also employed. Duran, a Columbine graduate, introduced the two to Mark Manes, a friend who agreed to sell them a TEC-DC9 semi-automatic handgun for $500. Meanwhile, Robyn Anderson, a close friend of Dylan's, purchased two shotguns and a 9mm rifle which she then gave to the pair who were now planning to attack their school. After acquiring the guns, Eric and Dylan went shooting at the Rampart Range with Mark Manes, Phillip Duran, and Manes' girlfriend. They practiced shooting at bowling pins and pine trees. Eric's Mischief Together, both Eric and Dylan started having a lot of mischief at Blackjack Pizza. They set off fireworks in the back alley and booby-trapped the fence. At one point the pair even set fire to the workplace kitchen. Chris Morris, a friend of Eric's, worked with them at the pizza place and was arrested on 4-20-99 due to some suspicion that he may have been involved in the shooting. He was later cleared and released. In 1997 Eric's father Wayne Harris started keeping a diary of his son's misdeeds. It starts shortly after Eric and Brooks Brown have a falling out. In Brooks' book No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine, Brooks claims that it started because he was late in giving Eric a ride to school. After Eric continuously went on about Brooks' mistake, Brooks eventually said that he wasn't even receiving gas money for the ride, and finally told Eric to find another ride to school. Eric got angry and broke Brooks' windshield with a rock; and then began simultaneously terrorizing the Brown household by putting firecrackers on the windowsill and causing other harassment. Eric gloated about these occurrences in his personal journals as well as his website. The Browns eventually contacted the police and Eric's parents. Eric apologized for his actions, but soon after posted Brooks' phone number on one of his online rants. Around this time, Wayne Harris began logging his son's problems. In January of 1998, Eric and Dylan broke into a van and stole a bunch of electronic equipment. The pair were caught and were sentenced to community service via Juvenile Diversion. Eric ranted about his anger for the incident in his journal. While writing the entry, at the same he wrote an apology letter to the van's owner. All and all, Eric's parents as well as the judge saw a remorseful image and he was released early from his sentence. Around the time of the incident, Eric's mother began taking him to see a therapist for his anger management issues. One of Eric's aspirations was to join the Marines, and he even applied, however his application was rejected shortly before the massacre at Columbine likely because he was taking the drug Fluvox (Fluvoxamine maleate) at the time, a prescribed anti-depressant he was taking in connection with his anger management therapy. Some of Eric's friends told reporters that they believed he had stopped taking the drug shortly before the rampage. If true, this could have widely contributed to what happened as stopping any anti-depressant can enhance the negative side effects. Eric was never informed about him being denied in the Marines, as the recruiting officer was unable to reach him to let him know before the shootings had occurred. Kathy Harris had mentioned the drug Fluvox while meeting with the recruiter along with her son so it's possible he assumed Eric's chances were blown as he had not reported that he was taking the anti-depressant when he applied. Based on what his friends have said over the years, Eric himself believed he wouldn't be going into the Armed Forces. Eric was very active on the internet prior to the massacre, exploring a new frontier of hobbies as the technology was new. Judy Brown, Brooks' mother, claimed that while driving around the block she would see Eric on his computer constantly, wondering if it was healthy for him to be on it that frequently. He and Dylan had their computers set up online, and were avid Doom ''players, Eric having a stronger web preference. Eric's (a.k.a. 'REB', 'Rebel', 'Rebdoomer', 'Rebdomine') webpages received a lot of attention immediately following the shootings, namely the rants released years after the investigation into Columbine ended. Both Eric and Dylan were into the Industrial music scene, and enjoyed listening to KMFDM as well as Rammstein. Eric often wore a shirt with 'KMFDM' printed on the front. After Eric's journals and webpages were released to the public, the bands distanced themselves from the Trenchcoat Mafia and the shooters, as did Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and anyone else listed on Eric's site as being someone he admired. Most notably, Marilyn Manson was brought into attention by the media however there is no sign that either Eric or Dylan listened to his music. Manson also made it known that he never condoned what happened at Columbine. Eric chatted on WBS, ''Web Broadcasting System, he was also active on AOL. Eric made websites including Jo Mamma (a website of 'jo mamma' jokes that aren't supposed to be funny, created by REB Eric, VoDkA Dylan, and KiBBz Heckler), and another WBS page made up of KMFDM lyrics and the more explicit and threatening AOL website that contained a threat of killing Brooks Brown and shooting up Littleton. Randy and Judy Brown, Brooks' parents, saw the website (ironically they were tipped off my Dylan Klebold) and they filed a police report. Not long after the Browns filed the report, which was never followed up, Eric began keeping a journal of plans to attack Columbine on April 19, 1999. Both Eric and Dylan changed the date to the 20th on the week of the 19th. It's been speculated that the original date was to coincide with the Oklahoma City bombing and the Waco Siege; however April 20 was Adolf Hitler's date of birth. It's unknown why they really chose the date that they did in the end. The Basement Tapes A year before the massacre, Eric, Dylan, Chris Morris, and another friend, Columbine graduate Cory Friesen, helped close down a firework stand. In return, they all got fireworks. Eric and Dylan took at least ten boxes of fireworks, and soon began using them to construct and build pipe bombs. Beginning in the middle of March and ending in late April of 1999, the pair began filming themselves in what would be known as the Columbine "Basement Tapes". In the videos, that have since been destroyed along with over tons of other Columbine evidence by Jefferson County, Eric and Dylan make it clear that they are about to launch the deadliest attack on their high school. They drink Jack Daniels whiskey and use profanity; referring to themselves on occasion as 'gods'. They also talk about students they hate and mock them. Later on, they poke fun at how well they were able to hide their misdeeds in collecting the weapons and supplies needed for the massacre. Dylan even went so far as to play the role of Eric's mother in entering his room to check it. Eric shows off all of his hiding places that contain pipe bombs, knives, gun powder, and bomb making equipment. He eventually shows the camera his Savage-Springfield 67H pump shotgun he refers to 'Arlene', named after a character from Doom. Towards the end of the tapes, the pair began talking about how their parents were not at fault for what they were going to do. While Dylan was rough around the edges in using his words, Eric was more sympathetic and generally showed remorse in the tapes. They show the clothes they will wear when their 'judgement day' arrives. They bequeath their technology (computers, games, etc.) to both Chris Morris and Nate Dykeman. Finally on April 20, they both say their final goodbyes to their friends and families. 4-20-1999: Massacre at Columbine Clothing and Gear Eric wore black fatigue-style pants, a white T-shirt inscribed with the words "Natural Selection" on the front, black baseball cap with the words "KMFDM" on it worn backwards (not usually depicted in media), and a black duster trenchcoat. He also wore a black fingerless glove on his right hand and black combat boots. Both shooters wore utility belts which held pouches filled with shotgun shells and they carried CO2 bombs and clips of 9mm bullets in their pants. To make fuse lighting easier with their pipe bombs, both gunmen had match strikers taped to their forearms. Eric's weapons included knives, explosives, a Savage 67H pump action shotgun (sawn-off) and a Hi-Point 995 carbine. Day of the Massacre